Series: Spider-Man

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Filmmakers Comment on Comic Book Films Past, Present, and Future

Three years ago, the comic book film wasa laughingstock.  "Batman and Robin was the death of the comicbook movie.  It was too hokey," said filmmaker/comic scribe KevinSmith.  But oh, how things change.  "But X-Men suddenlyopened the floodgates again," Smith continued.  Comic films have askyrocketing status in Hollywood, and seem to have an unstoppable upcomingslate.  Last week, USA Today ran a feature story on comic tofilm adaptations, both old and new.

The core theme through the article is onethat fanboys everywhere can appreciate:  Hollywood finally gets it thatfaithful and well done adaptations of comics can provide an endless supply ofprofitable films.  

And conversely, failure to satisfy thefans can spell doom says  20th Century Fox chairman Tom Rothman. "In this arena, you can get hurt by playing it safe just as easy as takinga risk.  Heaven help you if you do a bad version.  Not only will itfail and lose money, it will engender enmity."

Of course, in analyzing the history ofcomic book films, mention was made of the few successes of yesteryear. Uslan talked of how the films must have not just budget and effects, but adedication to the values and themes of the character.  "The first halfof Superman, with it's vision of the planet Krypton and the town ofSmallville, was a seminal, modern-day approach to comic-book movies.  Itwas grounded in a sense of reality, touching and human," said Uslan.

In short, comic books are apparentlygetting a more equal treatment to other creative sources, such as novels andplays.  Hollywood realizes that despite comic book's often fantasticnature, they have to approach them in a serious manner.  "Tim said onthe first Batman that it wasn't about a guy with a square jaw andrippling muscles.  It's about Bruce Wayne, the man inside the suit, notBatman."   Marvel movie big-shot Avi Arad agreed, saying"You have to remember that it has to play on a human level before you add[the rest]."

And the revival of comic book movies islargely due to a group of talented professionals taking a passionate approach tothe material.  Art-house film director Bryan Singer said that it wasn't theaction and effects that lured him to X-Men:  "Unlike a lot ofcomics, it's about a diverse group of reluctant superheroes forced bycircumstances and beliefs to defend a world who hates and fears them.  Ifound the dichotomy interesting.  It's a great allegory of aloneness,particularly through adolescence."

With Spider-Man, the studio got adirector that was not only passionate about making the movie, but had beenpassionate about the comics for years.  "I love the Spider-Man comicbooks the way an English scholar loves Macbeth," said director SamRaimi.  Spider-Man producer Laura Ziskin said that she could sense aspecial connection between director and character.  "Sam's sly senseof humor and his humanity are very much in this movie.  He is a kind ofperpetual boy, and relates to [Parker]," Ziskin said.

Another fierce creator in comic bookfilms is Blade II and Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro. Known for low budget horror movies, del Toro was not an obvious choice for BladeII.  Writer/producer David Goyer said the best choice for director was"someone off-center, who didn't come out of the studio system, and couldbring a fresh sense to the sequel.  The last thing we needed was ajourneyman who has done 30 movies and would phone it in."  

Blade II opened in a big way,scoring $32.5 million, and del Toro says it's the same respect for the source hehad with Blade that will make Hellboy great.  "If a directorlooks down on the genre, fans can smell it a mile away.  You shouldn't takea comic book movie any lighter than you would Shakespeare."

Daredevil director Michael StevenJohnson shared del Toro's sentiments.  "I hate when superhero movies"wink" at the audience.  The best thing is to take itseriously.  But that doesn't mean you can't have fun."

Another art-house director, though onewith action/fighting experience, Ang Lee is approaching The Hulk filmfrom an artistic angle.  Said writer/producer James Schamus, Ang saw"the emotional, positive side of the Hulk.  He understands he isn'tsimply a monster that is there to scare us, but that everyone has a bit of theHulk in them and there is something very enjoyable, very empowering inexperiencing it."

If these creators' visions are realizedto their fullest potential, we may be in for a comic book film boom even biggerthan anyone could predict.  Clearly, bad comic book adaptations in the pastmomentarily set back the genre.  "If you do them wrong and make acouple movies that seem redundant, it will hurt," said Arad.  But withsolid product on the way, Arad doesn't see any possibility of a glut.  Heprefers to think of Marvel's stable of comic book characters as stars, like TomCruise or Tom Hanks.  "Do you ever get sick of seeing them?  No,not with the right stories."